Johnny & Amber holding hands

May 2012, almost exactly a year ago, Johnny Depp was still insisting that he and Vanessa Paradis were fine -- click here for a refresher -- despite months of reporting, and from legitimate sources, that they were done. A month after that, in June 2012, they confirmed, officially, that they’d “amicably separated”. Through it all, Amber Heard, then 26, now 27, was always mentioned as a possible reason (along with Depp’s publicist) for Depp’s gradual disinterest in the mother of his children. There followed the predictable Big Star Damage Control -- “sources” intimating to US Weekly that it was all Vanessa’s fault for being a naggy hag, etc. Click here for a refresher on that. There were no formal denials about whether or not Depp and Heard were involved. There were a few unconfirmed sightings of the two of them together on his plane but at the same time, she was also photographed with her long-time girlfriend Tasya -- click here to see -- just a month after the Depp/Vanessa split announcement.

In November, Page Six reported that Depp and Heard were seen flirting with each other suggestively on a private patio at a Hollywood club. Two months after that, in January of this year, Heard was photographed in Paris with Marie de Villepin, rumoured to be her new lover. Click here to see those pictures.

On again, off again...

And now...

Take a look...

Johnny Depp holding Amber Heard’s hand at the Rolling Stones surprise show on Saturday night in LA. So on again then. And now that enough time has passed between his separation, I suppose in his mind it’s safe to be seen so publicly with his “girl”, which is what he calls his “girls”. For years, he called Vanessa Paradis “my girl”. “Girl” might be the key to understanding Johnny Depp’s romantic resumé. He was 27 when he and Winona Ryder started dating. She was 19. He was 31 when he started dating Kate Moss. She was 19/20. He was 35 when he started dating Vanessa Paradis. She was 26, the same age Amber Heard was when they started up whatever it is that they have going on.